375. Chui Huay Lim Teochew Club

I have heard rave reviews on Chui Huay Lim but has yet to try the food. Maybe it's because of Teochew cuisine which doesn't appeal to me as much as the western food and I thought if I were to go, it will definitely be with the family, prim and proper. The opportunity comes right at the time when I decided to go during my birthday month. Chui Huay Lim belongs to Jumbo group, so does Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh if you have not known. Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh is located at Chui Huay Lim Teochew Club now. 

We decided lunch. We were first served a small cup of tei-guan-yin tea. The fragrant aroma quickly filled the air.

Pumpkin Broth Shark Fin's with Truffle Oil

I have never been a fan of pumpkin for I felt it tasted weird to be made a savory dish in most of the Chinese cuisine. I browsed through the menu and this was one of the chef's recommendation. Rather unique, I thought. Intrigued by how it would taste, I went for it. It was surprisingly tasty. The pumpkin taste was not very overpowering and was made tastier with the chicken broth. The old folks at the table ate with curiosity without knowing it was the truffle oil that caused the strong 'moldy' smell.   

Pork Trotters Jelly

I loved this dish. I think it is very amazing how a Teochew dish can actually be made a cold dish. Dipped into the vinegary chili sauce, it was heavenly.

Teochew 'Puning' Fermented Bean Chicken, 走地鸡

I wondered what's Puning. Did a quick search and got to know that Puning is actually a city, one of the counties where Teochew prefecture existed. As a foodie, I'm more intrigued by the free range chicken's taste. There were seasoned mustard laid underneath the chicken. Every mouthful of the chicken is springy and the slight sourish taste of mustard goes so well together. The fermented bean didn't make the chicken too salty nor did it made the chicken over salty. It is indeed a good dish to go with rice!

 Deep Fried Ngoh Hiang

The old folks commented the ngoh hiang was good but I'm not a fan of ngoh hiang so I'm not commenting on this dish.

Deep Fried Teochew Liver Rolls

 

Liver rolls! First time have I eaten this dish. It was also my first time to hear of liver rolls. It was soft in texture and it didn't taste weird nor bad. If you are a fan of liver, I mean chicken liver or pork liver which I think could have been a mixture of the two, you should go for this.

 Teochew Fried Kway Teow with Diced Kai Lan

This is not something new to me. It had a very strong 'wo-hei' smell. I felt it could have been better if there was more chye-po. A tad oily. 

Overall was a very satisfied lunch for me. Enjoying a good lunch with the old folks on a lazy afternoon is never better than having a rushed one on a busy weekend. 

Chui Huay Lim Teochew Club

115 Keng Lee Road

298. Lim Seng Lee (South Buona Vista) Duck Rice

Lim Seng Lee duck rice is more known as South Buona Vista duck rice because there is only one famous duck rice at South Buona Vista road. The so much raved duck rice is very easy to spot for the crowd never ceased. Ask your mum and pop and they will know that is the "gao chap gao wan"(in Hokkien - 99 loops) duck rice you are referring to. I have absolutely no doubts with the word "famous" on their signboard because it is indeed very famous.

"Ai mai spare parts?", the lady asked in Hokkien if we wanted spare parts. "Spare parts?" I was thrown into question marks land. My lunch companion then explained to me that the spare parts meant the other parts of the duck like the gizzards, wings, webs and etc.

Boneless duck. The braised duck laid flat on the plate. Having rid of their bones, they looked like a cooked duck ramped over by heavy wheels.

But Hey! love me tender, love me sweet....the duck meat was soft and the sweet gravy complemented them so well. The difference which I have noticed for Lim Seng Lee's with the other duck rice stalls was the moisture in the duck meat was not lost.

Together with kang kong, tofu, 2 bowls of rice and 2 glasses of barley, 2 of us paid $19.40 for our lunch. There wasn't any other dishes to order. So, it was like a standard set of meal for everyone but I felt about $10/pax was expensive. Frankly speaking, the tofu and kang kong were dispensable dishes. Lim Seng Lee operates like a duck rice express outlet. In order to manage the crowd, the food was served fast and they were not hot. So, if there is a plate of duck rice for $3, would you still go for Lim Seng Lee's?


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Lim Seng Lee Duck Rice

38 South Buona Vista Road

Tel: 6475 9908

66. Huat Kee Teochew Restaurant

Lobster noodles

5 portions for $80

Lobster @seasonal price

猪脚冻 @$15
Jelly Pork Leg

午鱼(Ikan Kurau)半边煮 @$25

Tail portion

Braised cabbage with scallops @$50
Chinese spinach in Claypot @$15

Teochew cuisine. This restaurant is located at one of the shophouses along Amoy street. The waitresses were all waiting by the door, all ready to serve. The teochew ah-hia aka boss was sitting by the door too. Despite being a teochew restaurant with its authentic teochew cuisine, the decorations in the restaurant are pretty westernised. They have a wine cellar just next to the counter. They don't just serve tea.

The lobster noodles was very good. The lobster was meaty and the meat was juicy sweet. The sauce for the noodles had salted egg yolk in it, which made the mee very fragrant. The Jelly pork leg is a cold dish, their signature dish. It was very good too. The jelly just melt away in your mouth. I preferred dipping it in chilli sauce than the sweet plum sauce.

午鱼 (Ikan Kurau)半边煮 is another recommendable dish. Pretty cheap for such a big portion. 半边煮 (literal translation ：half way cook) means fry it and then cook it in a starchy base, the teochew style.

I think the braised cabbage is too expensive. Though the main cost came from the big scallops, I doubt many will think to have a cabbage for $50 is worthwhile. Haha.

The chinese spinach in claypot was the weirdest dish I have seen. The vegetables were cut into small portions. Toppings was the hay-bee-hiam (chilli shrimp floss). It made the whole dish like those gluey food made for babies. Why can't the greens be cooked the normal way?

A cup of tea was served for each. This tea was made from the first brew. Tea aids digestion. The tradtional dessert pumkin orh-nee (pumkin and yam paste) was cancelled because all of us were too full. My bill totalled up to $205. Pretty reasonable for the dishes I had. Worth revisiting! Shall try the orh-nee next time!

Huat Kee Teochew Restaurant

74 Amoy Street Singapore 069893

Tel: 64234747

www.teochewrestaurant.com